Saturday, 24 January 2015

So, halfway through my review of Buffy’s
“Tabula Rasa”, I needed a break. Sometimes these really deep, intricate reviews
can severely mentally drain you. Especially when you’re trying to juggle a
full-time job, two part-time jobs, and two university modules at the same time.
Therefore, to counteract all this work...I decided to create more for myself by
writing this recap of my times on the convention scene in 2014, as well as
giving some general advice and information about conventions and ticket types
(primarily in the United Kingdom). Now, unlike my other convention-related
posts, this one won’t be 20-25 A4-pages long. This is because, frankly, I’ve
already written gigantic reviews of the conventions themselves, so most of the
details are contained within those specific reviews. I will try to keep this post as brief as
possible...but you know I get excited and fan-flailey, so bear that in mind. What
this post will do is recap the year, talk about some of the highlights, talk
about some of the best guests, and talk about advantages and disadvantages of
different convention companies.

Sunday, 3 November 2013

A note
before I get started: This review will not contain every word that was said, as
I don’t remember everything. Hell, I’ve probably forgotten half of the things
that people said or that I said to the guests. However, this will be a good
overview of the weekend and should show you what to expect from a weekend
convention like Hallowhedon.

Second note:
I will not be naming fellow convention goers very often, even the 40+ of you
that are from my “Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fan Club” Facebook page. If I name 5
of you and not the rest, they get offended, etc., so I will only be naming the
very important people that I spent the most time with.

Third note:
“We” means “Myself and Robyn”. I didn’t want to keep writing “Myself and Robyn
did this”, “Myself and Robyn did that”, so I just said “we” a lot of the time
;).

Final note: Photo credits to the following wonderful people, who have allowed me to use some of their photos for this recap - Bernie Angel McDonnell, Clare Davidson, Lisa Davidson, and Elspeth Renfrew!

I very
spontaneously decided to go to Hallowhedon 5 at the beginning of March. I was
on the forums checking to see who was announced for LFCC (London Film &
Comic Con), and saw that Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, and Tom Lenk had all been
announced for Hallowhedon. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I slightly
prefer Angel as a show to Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It’s only slightly, but it
meant that I couldn’t give up the opportunity to meet Alexis and Amy, as they
are two of the main characters. You could argue that Wesley is the second main
character of the whole show (behind Angel). I decided to buy a gold ticket,
which included six free studio photos, six free autographs, an exclusive gold
membership drinks reception with the stars, the front 5 rows at the talks, and
a goodie bag upon registering at the event. The line-up for the event was
Alexis Denisof (Wesley), Amy Acker (Fred), Tom Lenk (Andrew), K. Todd Freeman
(Mr. Trick), Jeff Ricketts (Weatherby from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel
(from The Watcher’s Council), and he was also in an episode of Firefly), Sarah
Hagan (Amanda, the Potential Slayer), Jane Espenson (Buffy The Vampire Slayer
writer (as well as many other shows), and Brad Bell (star and co-creator of
‘Husbands’, alongside Jane Espenson). About six weeks before Hallowhedon, Amy
Acker had to pull out due to work commitments.